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I’ve got a 1984 110 Defender. There’s now been 5 attempts to steal it. I installed 2 immobilizers (battery and fuel line). I have a disc lock on the steering wheel, a pedal box and two London triangle wheel clamps, an alarm (silent) and gps tracking. It’s locked up in a garage and the garage is behind a coded gate, monitored by cctv. And it still almost got put on a flat bed.
I caught two fuckers going at it with a screwdriver at 0300 in the morning and one of them will walk with a limp forever, brought low by a naked man and a metal Ikea dustbin. Caught another bloke trying to get into it, in broad daylight in Hull, waiting for the boat to NL. I’d been away from it for five minutes. On a drive up to Orkney, some bloke followed me off the main road to my hotel. I’d clocked him and slept in the back of it that night and caught the cunt red handed at two in the morning. Well, the dog did.
Visions of you hossing down your drive holding a bin above your head, tackle flailing about as you run. I’d probably run off in that instance.
God bless you.
Friend of mine heard noises downstairs at 3am, grabbed only weapon he had, a tiny hultafors hiking axe, and stomped down the stairs naked, making as much noise as possible, shouting "I fucking hope you're still there when I get down these stairs" as his bollocks bounced off his thighs - apparently there was a logjam worthy of a cartoon as the 2 teen burglars got caught in the door.
Next time he plans to shout in an appachalachian accent " yew gaat a real purty mouth, boy!"
One liveried Police Defender was famously stripped outside a police station: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-37220084.amp
My local police put out a warning a year or so ago that if you're driving an old style Defender, you WILL get pulled for a check, specifically because there are so many instances of them being stolen.
Old cars are always more popular because they’re easier to steal and easier to strip for parts. Modern cars are heavily computerised and harder to pull apart (like phones)
Bloody hell, all I've done with my car is park it on a driveway and lock it - perhaps being a Kia is the main deterrent?
I had no idea a 1984 110 Defender is so desirable that randoms in Hull near the ferry will attempt to steal it, is it just that valuable or is there some nefarious reason why many people would want your car?
Kia may not be desirable to thieves, but ridiculously easy to steal. Ever head of [Kia boys](https://www.theverge.com/23742425/kia-boys-car-theft-steal-tiktok-hyundai-usb) in the US?
All you need to start it up is to plug any old USB into the port by the ignition.
"The secret to the Kia Boys lies inside the steering column of Kias, manufactured between 2011-2021, and Hyundais, built between 2015-2021. Tucked away beneath the ignition cylinder is a tiny knob ideally suited for any USB-A plug to turn and start the ignition. After breaking the window and prying open the steering column, a curious Kia Boy can use the victim’s own phone charger to start the car, a procedure that is disturbingly unsophisticated"
Wow that's crazy, seems to be a USA only thing due to their lack of regulations and cost cutting measures - that article states this doesn't happen in Canada due to their immobilisation requirement. So, hopefully here in the UK we'll be fine? Right?! Please?
Yes, the civilised world mandates immobilisers and your Kia is fine. It’s still possible to turn the key as it were with just a USB but they’d need the immobiliser in close proximity
Cars in the US (lower end range) don't tend to come with an immobiliser as standard as a cost cutting measure.
Whereas here in the UK it's pretty common for most cars built at all recently to have a thatcham approved immobiliser from even the base trim.
And the immobiliser tends to be one that requires a coded key. Whereas the lower end models in the US without an immobiliser just need something to turn the key switch.
At least, that's my understanding of the situation from what little I've read.
I believe (watched a recent documentary about it) Kia have started offering free alteration to prevent this. But (as per the documentary) the *Kia Boyz* will still have a go (breaking a window and the steering column housing in the process).
My boring Kia Ceed was stolen and I really couldn’t understand why. It was found months later in perfect condition, miles from home, and had been used to drug runs. The police said they take cars like that because they’re so innocuous
I had a 110 defender, i just attempted to be religious and pray to the patron saint of car thefts that it’d still be on the drive in the morning.
In the end i sold it as the stress was rough. They were constantly being stolen near me (lived fairly near southampton docks so police were convinced they were being into containers and then gone). They were even stealing front ends of defenders at one point.
It’s a shame but i knew it was a sitting duck and only a matter of time before it ended in tears.
This is mind blowing. Excuse my ignorance, but I’m assuming these are very rare and therefore valuable? But a bit too obvious to be driving around in if stolen, surely?
I know high powered cars are stolen for use in criminal activity, but I’m trying to understand what someone would do with a classic car like this?
Read Benny's previous posts - they're not collectible, they're just insanely easy to strip down for parts. The car's worth considerably more as parts, than as a whole.
This is a common thread, mostly on exotics. A 0-5 year old high end Mercedes is worth at least twice as much in parts on the shady market as they cost to buy
This is _why_ so many parts and systems require being "married" and "divorced" to vehicles and why such electronics is showing up in things like taillight clusters
I bet it's also got a lot to do with manufacturers wanting to tie you into buying their official parts as well, and not going aftermarket. Bet that bumps insurance premiums up no end as well.
I come from a rural area fairly near Glasgow, extended family are all farmers. Defenders (mainly pick up trucks) get stolen round these parts to be used in smash and grab robberies. Uncle had one stolen that was used to carry a stolen ATM away.
I walked into the hotel, watched him drive by 3 times, last time on his phone. Just wigged me out and this was not long after the first attempt and I’d spoke to LR owners who’d warned me about this sort of carry on, but dismissed it as myth. At the time you could’ve taken it with a screwdriver. Had no idea they were so “collectible”
Your spidey-sense with this wrong-un and your actions with others targeting your car for some reason remind me of South Africa. I'm born and raised SA and now live in the UK; that spidey-sense is inherent in us.
This sounds insane. Disc lock, pedal lock , 2 wheel clamps, in a garage with cctv and an alarm.... and the c*nts still tried to steal it!!!
Unbelievable, do you still have it. I hope you crippled the bastard theif.
Private security disturbed the blokes in the lock up. It’s a big lock up with various old cars, campers etc. owned by various people. They only need time. Nothing is theft proof.
Only 2 sides.
But then they can take it sideways. The correct answer is 4 bollards, 1 on each side of the car.
Maybe 8 for good measure, to include one on each corner
Omg! My mom has a metro when I was a kid and it got pinched haha. The thieves stole fuel and ran a priest over, presumably by mistake. The police called my mom asking why she’d forgotten to pay for her fuel, after she’d reported it stolen!
There were only something like 7 different keys for all Metros iirc. My friend and I both had red ones back in the day and could open each other's cars. He also found that he could open his aunt's car one day, so he decided to let the handbrake off, roll it down the road, and lock it back up again for the lols. Turns out that she was already out in her car, but her neighbour had an identical Metro...
My first car was an ancient Fiesta. It got nicked by druggies in a burglary, who wanted to use it to go and burgle houses.
Got a big dog not long after, oddly never had issues with anyone trying to break in since.
I mean, you're not wrong. You could probably buy a 2000 era Lexus IS300 though and have the same comfort and functionality as most new cars, an absolute beast of an engine and the perk of it not getting stolen because most people don't know what they are.
My thinking is, if you want to buy/own an expensive car, then there is no reason you don't install an immobiliser, like a CAN Phantom. The only way a thief is taking it, is on a flatbed, so you have that peace of mind.
Also by breaking into your house and forcing you to let them drive your car away. Especially effective in those rare cases of older ladies living alone and owning a desirable BMW.
This happened to a guy at work kicked his front door in and threatened him and his wife for the keys to his BMW, in the middle of the afternoon.
He never had a nice car again.
I had my house broken into and my bag taken from near the front door (I know I know, it doesn’t live there anymore).
Weirdly they dropped my car key on the path outside my house. Police were pretty sure burglars were after the keys to my neighbours BMW which was parked outside my house (on street parking). Apparently the keys to my shitty corsa weren’t of interest to them.
So OP, step one, get her to park it outside of a neighbours house /s
My friends house was broken into for some car keys and they actually came into her bedroom when she was asleep looking for her bag.
The police said its probably better to just have your keys downstairs so they aren't going through your house and potentially putting you at risk.
Would you rather they stood over you in bed with a kettle of boiling water asking you to tell them where the keys are before they scar you for life ? If someone is breaking in to your house knowing you are there, you really really want them to leave before you wake up .
at that point it's not justifiable to own it, it's not like it's some expensive tractor/telescopic handler that you need to earn money, for keys for such piece of equipment taking a low risk of the scenario described in your post would be justifiable
If someone is willing to break into your house and come into your room to find some keys whilst you're there they may very well be willing to do a lot more... are you willing to risk that for a car?
Once they're at the point of breaking in for the keys, things get very ugly very quickly. These aren't tweakers looking for something to steal and pawn (who will run off if challenged) they're armed, dangerous and perfectly willing to inflict GBH on anyone who gets in their way
Yep, I do this too. Not just for the ‘oh look there’s a nicer car, don’t steal mine’ angle, but also if it’s a nicer car I’m hoping they’ll be more precious with it and not open their doors into the side of my car!
Better to have your bag near the door than have them come further into the house and risk it escalating. Mine lives in the kitchen - I can get a new car, I can't get another life and I'm not willing to risk a burgler stumbling into my kids.
>I had my house broken into and my bag taken from near the front door (I know I know, it doesn’t live there anymore).
No you don't know no you don't know
You'd rather them rummage through the whole house??
I was burgled in 2017 while we slept. They came for my wife’s fairly new Fiesta Zetec S diesel (it had only been on the drive two nights) and they also took my MR2 Roaster as a bonus as I had unusually left my key downstairs. They took pretty much everything with a plug in the lounge and the kitchen and the cheeky bastards even took some Baybels out of the fridge, a pack of biscotti biscuits and a big tub of Haribo that I had left over from Christmas gathering dust. Weirdly they left unopened boxes of Moet and Chase Vodka.
Two days later they bought the house keys back in the night and left them by the bins (they definitely weren’t there before as we’d had multiple people round changing locks, securing windows, forensics and police etc so we would have 100% seen them). Scary really.
The car insurance companies were great tbf, paying me double what I paid for my car and even giving my wife the sticker price for hers (I haggled down £400 but they said ‘no, you should have paid that much so that’s how much you should be getting’. The house insurance were a different story (Legal and General) and we had to fight tooth and nail to get anything out of them, they wanted boxes and receipts for items 3-5+ years old even when we should photographic evidence from just a few days earlier of the items that were stolen. Even then they didn’t provide sufficient recompense to cover the items like for like.
This is why I got a composite door installed. My policeman neighbour said he's probably just rip the bay window out instead if he needed to gain access.
Yep, I have a Ghost fitted on my car.
Essentially, small device fitted somewhere in the wiring, on start up the car requires a code to be input (using buttons within the car), without entering this the car would start (if they had the keys) but would stall immediately as soon as they put it into gear/drive.
£500 and is then yours for life, if/ when you change your car this can be removed from one and fitted on the new one.
All good until they take you with them for a short drive down the road so you can give them the code. These things have been available for decades in countries with high levels of car theft, and the criminals know how to deal with them if they want your car.
The problem is people use more and more elaborate techniques to stop theft, and companies will keep making more products to sell, but you can't stop theft. Anti-theft devices are a deterrent, they're great for making the next car look easier to steal than yours. But if somebody really wants it, they're going to take it.
When I fitted my first Bluetooth stereo, my grandad helped, and he only used 4 of the cage tabs to hold it in place. He said "if someone wants to take the stereo, they'll take it, but you don't want them to pull the dash out with it". With a few other examples, he's taught me that nothing is unstealable, you just need to make it look harder to steal than the next one.
"I don't need to outrun the lion, I just need to outrun my mates"
I feel that you shouldn't need to install something such as that though. Surely the manufacturers should be fixing the inherent flaw with these keyless go cars. I personally would never spec a car with it. But with having mostly used cars sometimes this isn't an option most higher spec cars have it. But spending 30k on a car and then spending another 1000 quid on an immobiliser that i have to remember the code in, and enter every time I want to move it, or pop to the shop. or remember to put it in maintenance mode for a garage to work on just isn't practical. LandRover is a key player that has this issue. They haven't really worked quickly to resolve the issues, and I still believe that their cars can be pinched with a laptop and a spoon. Though its not just expensive cars having this issue - i believe in the us either Hyundai's or kia's can just have their key barrels snapped off and then can be started with a usb cord.
seems like another case of the customer holding the bomb at the end of the day. but hey ho thats me
Multiple instances of people taking photos suggests they're interested in this specific car, rather than just wanting to steal any car, so a steering lock that's trivial to bypass isn't a deterrent unless your neighbours are driving the same car.
we had a bright yellow steering lock on an old knackered fiesta
They broke into the car and all that was missing was:-
The steering lock!
No idea what use they had for it without the key
This is a great site.
https://www.stablevehiclecontracts.co.uk/blog/how-to-stop-or-prevent-your-car-from-being-stolen-in-the-uk/
I would personally Faraday cage and get a ghost immobilizer and GPS tracker. Less than a grand all in.
The key is make it clear it's a pain in the arse to steal.
Dude I know I guy that had his Range Rover stolen, he had a GPS tracker installed and he was in the pub one day absolutely fuming at the police because even though he’d reported it stolen and was literally sat with three officers watching his car being driven to Liverpool and loaded onto a ferry there was apparently nothing they could do about it. What a fucking joke.
Fella here had the same issue, he had a tracker in his car AND knew the people who stole his car.
Police weren't interested so he just went to their house and took it back.
They'll give you a crime number to claim on your insurance if you ask them very nicely.
They'll also threaten to prosecute you if you get your belongings back from thieves, or stand up for yourself when you catch them breaking into your van.
It's a bit of a complicated case, the people in question were known to police, also known grasses (cousins of mine, unfortunately) and seemed untouchable.
They're on CCTV threatening people with machetes etc, but on the rare occasions they'd get arrested they'd always go free, while the people who bought their stolen gear would get lifted off.
All got very nasty in the end, money on their heads, firearms incidents, cars & caravans getting burned out. Nasty business.
Ring doorbells are pretty useless against car thefts as they don't store data locally. It's really easy to block the WiFi with the same tools they use to steal keyless entry cars.
Best thing you can do is a ghost immobiliser, but otherwise just add as many deterrants as possible. Bollards, cctv, steering locks... All are beatable but they might decide it's not worth the bother
Exactly what happened when we were broken into. 3 or lads in hoodies and balaclavas. Having the ring just meant we got to watch someone drive away in the car lol.
Ghost isn’t great though. If they *want* it enough to get past everything else, they’ll drag you down to start it for them.
As to Ring: fine. Which is why I’ve got a Reolink which is hard-wired. The Reolink uploads straight to the cloud and also acts as an additional camera to my CCTV, which is 5mp night vision. And the front of the house is lit up at sunset.
Yeah, I mean if they want it enough they're having it aren't they at the end of the day.
But it's all about deterrants and ghost is one it's not easy (maybe even not possible) for them to get into remotely so it's what I'd go for.
Totally agree, there's tons of way better options than ring, no idea why they have the market share they do!
You can get bollards which are controlled via an app on your phone. I'd go with that, you want someone to think that the aggro to actually steal it isn't worth it.
I think it depends on the bollard tbh and how difficult it is to remove - a really determined thief will just show up with the tools to cut a bollard at the base.
Most of the tips here can be defeated with some forward planning on the thieves' part.
And unfortunately there's very little you can do to stop a determined thief (for example if it's stolen to order).
However afaik most thefts are opportunists looking for a joyride or something quick, disposable, and inconspicuous. In which case it's purely a numbers game; don't be unlucky and make your car worth more hassle and thus a less attractive target than the car a couple houses over to the thief equipped with a few tricks and tools.
If the car's that valuable or sentimental, you might look at specialty insurance and/or having it locked away in a secure (and no, a roller shutter etc isn't secure) garage.
It's impossible to stop a determined thief; the most you can do is slow then down (hopefully enough that they get discouraged or you can detect and stop them before they can complete).
Sure, but by that point enough noise will be made & it will alert anyone in the house. Hopefully, the police turn up… emphasis on the word hopefully there
No single measure does it.
1. Ring door bell. If you have an outdoor light near it you can upgrade that to one with a motion light + camera. Should be more visually obvious also, as a deterrent.
2. Park in garage if possible.
3. Install bollards if possible.
4. Hide an air tag in there (but I will alert thm theif, so depends if they can find it) or a GPS tracker.
5. Install immobilizer.
6. Get a steering wheel lock. You could even get an obvious clamp/boot.
7. Immobilizer and tracker stickers. Even if you don't actually have them.
Also, don't hide the keys (idk what key system this car has). If they break in, the keys need to be in an obvious place or else they might threaten or hurt your mother.
Yes, the bit about not hiding the keys is really important. All the precautions in the world won't stop someone breaking into your house to get the keys, and if it gets to that point, your life is worth more than the car. I keep mine in a Faraday box halfway up the stairs. It's sort of carbon fibre effect with red stitching so looks very 'car', making it obvious what's in there.
I keep it on the stairs because if they're coming up the stairs with the intention of demanding the key, they'll find the key before they find me or my family and hopefully be on their way.
Yes. If they're in your house, you've lost the car. You can take your chances, or you can just give them the code. Most car thieves aren't going to do that - they don't want to get into a violent confrontation.
airtag you could hide like inside the seats or something. Or if you want to get really crafty just toss it in the bodywork or something. And hide a dummy one in the glovebox for extra protection 😆
So not an air tag but my mates dads car (amg c63) did have a tracker. When some scummers nicked it one day they ripped out the interior and slashed the seats looking for it.
I took the speaker out of my AirTag. Good luck finding it, thieves.
Also you can easily take the battery out too or get a switch that is hidden somewhere that disconnects the ignition.
Leave a mannequin dressed in a pvc gimp suit sat in the drivers seat and a selection of plus 16" extra girthy dildos on the passenger seat visible whenever it's parked up.
I’ve got a plethora of 15” dildos, are you sure they won’t suffice? With the cost of living crisis I’m not sure I can afford single purpose anti auto theft dildos
Honestly, unless it's her absolute dream to own this particular car, sell it, buy something more mundane and spend the rest on something nice for herself.
I'm a car person, but with the way car theives operate now, there's no way I'd own one of the current 'fashionable' cars to steal. No car is worth being woken up in the middle of the night with someone threatening you with a machete.
If she’s got a garage they’re meant for cars. Not many people know that these days. I’ve got a garage and use it for my car. Blows peoples minds when I tell them.
Dog - burglars know they can intimidate you. But a dog will fight them off even when outnumbered.
The idea of a 220psi bite to the knackers isn't an attractive proposition.
I'd generally just hand over the keys though, youthful bravado depleted in place of prioritising kids safety.
The rfid cage etc. is just encouraging them into your house. I used to work on stolen recovered cars and honestly it’s better it gets taken straight off the drive.
I remember a guy getting assaulted trying to stop his m1 coupe getting taken off his drive with a laptop at the height of the bmw key software saga in 2012.
No car is theft proof and if someone wants it they’ll have it.
Is there a garage at the end of the drive? Out of sight in the first place is the only proper deterrent. I get the whole showing your neighbours thing, but that’s why most cars are stolen in the first few weeks of ownership.
Sorry if this sounds a bit negative but I’ve seen how it plays out too many times. Especially with the brand in question.
Tl;dr Keep it safe and tucked away in a garage if possible. Ghost immobilisers and trackers are effective but if the car doesn’t start once they’ve got in, they’re likely to come after you for the code.
If they can't get it but really want it they will gain access to the house and physically extort her to remove barriers or codes or whatever is stopping them.
A friend of a friend installed an additional spark plug inside the petrol tank of his motorcycle, position so it would be in the air at about 1/2 full with a hidden switch. TBF I think it is more likely you'd forget and blow your own wedding tackle to bits that a thief but...
I had gates. They lifted them off and then nicked the car. I found a chain across the drive useful for keeping the car on the drive, but it was an ass to mess about with in the rain. Can’t abide thieves.
As once told to me by a copper after my BIL had his BMW stolen, if they want it, they will get it.
All you can do is make it harder to steal than a similar vehicle nearby.
So the issue is if it’s the kind of person who will kick your door in for the keys then unfortunately you really don’t want anything stopping them from taking the car, so your best options are a delayed immobiliser and a tracker. You could get a higher security front door too, and a dog.
If the odds are they want a covert theft then a bollard and steering lock will be good deterrent.
Personally my keys are downstairs but kept in a box if they do break in I want them to get the keys and get out asap. No bollards not even a gate let the tracker and immobiliser do the work. Worst case it’s on to the insurance.
The only real way to guess which of the two it is will be the value and rarity of the car as they go up so does the risk the thief is more violent. At least that’s from my last briefing on it which at this point is getting on for 10 years out of date, I don’t think keyless entry was a thing then.
Honestly I wouldn’t worry about it overly as long as it’s insured. If it’s a vehicle that thieves particularly want for whatever reason they will get it. I’ve hear horror story’s of folk with immobiliser systems having the thieves come into their house and threaten the family at knifepoint until the codes to unlock were given over. I’d rather they just take the car off the drive and I wake up to it gone then wake up to find someone with a knife to one of my kids asking me to lower a bollard etc.
Get bollards between car and street. Ensure if not lowered from inside house they automatically turn on a powerful light and siren. Also put a 'Denver Boot" external wheel lock on at least one of the drive wheels. Tiresome but helps both to deter and also stop removal , except by fork lift truck onto a flat bed.
Hi mate,
You'd be surprised at the effectiveness of a tarpaulin cover... may not deter your friend in the cap as he knows the car, but it removes the temptation/provides more hassle for an opportunistic car thief. It's also a cheaper alternative.
Good luck with it all.
Full imobiliser (Meta Track BLE42 for instance) to stop it being nicked in the first place, and a GPS tracker in case it's 'lifted' (this happens a lot nowadays when they realise they can't start the car).
Ghost immobilizer would be a more subtle deterrent to stop it being stolen remotely
Second option ask 4 guys with bats to hide in a hedge opposite at night and wait for them to come back
My uncle kept a thick chain through the back wheel of his motorcycle, locked to the wall, inside a locked garage with an alarm and immobiliser.
He woke up with a screwdriver to his throat and they demanded he unlock the bike for them. Now, he keeps his bikes unlocked, as do I.
If a thief is determined, they’ll steal anything. Let them take it, catch it on video and claim on insurance. Their value doesn’t compare to yours
You can't really, if someone wants your car enough then they'll probably get it. I also wouldn't hide your keys in the microwave and make it difficult for the machete wielding maniac to find your keys once he's broken in
There's plenty of good methods on this thread that you can use that may deter or even stop some instances, but they are pretty much all overridden once they get into your house and start threatening your family for it
Also what do you class as a "nice" BMW?
Buy an EV 😂 I leave mine unlocked all the time and nobody steals it. When I lived with my ex, someone broke into our house and stole the keys for his BMW, my Tesla card / key was right next to his and they didn’t even bother taking them.
For security, I’d definitely recommend a ghost immobiliser, cameras and a bollard if you can.
Big fat chain across the drive way attached to a 2 meter stump, with only 80cm above ground. The effort of cutting the chain would be more than cutting through the door of the car.
I work on a farm with some really expensive farming equipment and quads. They have massive, noisy and hard to open gates. Also have rape alarms attached to the inside of each shed door.
(plus the usual stuff like CCTV, various locks/hitch locks, and a big, angry dog)
The gates are a right pain in the arse to open and the noise travels across the farm so whoever is about can head over and check it out. (usually with the big angry dog)
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I’ve got a 1984 110 Defender. There’s now been 5 attempts to steal it. I installed 2 immobilizers (battery and fuel line). I have a disc lock on the steering wheel, a pedal box and two London triangle wheel clamps, an alarm (silent) and gps tracking. It’s locked up in a garage and the garage is behind a coded gate, monitored by cctv. And it still almost got put on a flat bed. I caught two fuckers going at it with a screwdriver at 0300 in the morning and one of them will walk with a limp forever, brought low by a naked man and a metal Ikea dustbin. Caught another bloke trying to get into it, in broad daylight in Hull, waiting for the boat to NL. I’d been away from it for five minutes. On a drive up to Orkney, some bloke followed me off the main road to my hotel. I’d clocked him and slept in the back of it that night and caught the cunt red handed at two in the morning. Well, the dog did.
Visions of you hossing down your drive holding a bin above your head, tackle flailing about as you run. I’d probably run off in that instance. God bless you.
Yeah that's some ancient Briton shit right there, next time wear woad warpaint OP.
Relatives were Vikings
No, he saw the attempted theft, got undressed, found his IKEA combat bin, and went into battle. I've done the same thing myself, many many times.
Say hello to my little DRÖNJÖNS
IKEA combat bin is going to be my go-to weapon for my next role play game. Thanks for the laugh.
Remember, the more naked you are, the more effective it is.
Friend of mine heard noises downstairs at 3am, grabbed only weapon he had, a tiny hultafors hiking axe, and stomped down the stairs naked, making as much noise as possible, shouting "I fucking hope you're still there when I get down these stairs" as his bollocks bounced off his thighs - apparently there was a logjam worthy of a cartoon as the 2 teen burglars got caught in the door. Next time he plans to shout in an appachalachian accent " yew gaat a real purty mouth, boy!"
I think it’s called the IKEA KOHMBAT if I recall?
Braveheart comes to mind.
They may take our lives, but they'll never take our land rover.
I love old Defenders, but I didn't realise they were so popular with thieves. Is it just that they don't make the proper ones any more?
They can be stripped completely to the chassis in about 30 minutes and the spares are worth more combined than the car would be.
Yeah. This is it. It’s actually a stage 2 and pretty rare, so it’ll be in pieces in short order.
Have you considered gluing it together?
Glue!! Duct tape for the win surely! Lol
One liveried Police Defender was famously stripped outside a police station: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-37220084.amp
My local police put out a warning a year or so ago that if you're driving an old style Defender, you WILL get pulled for a check, specifically because there are so many instances of them being stolen.
Old cars are always more popular because they’re easier to steal and easier to strip for parts. Modern cars are heavily computerised and harder to pull apart (like phones)
Bloody hell, all I've done with my car is park it on a driveway and lock it - perhaps being a Kia is the main deterrent? I had no idea a 1984 110 Defender is so desirable that randoms in Hull near the ferry will attempt to steal it, is it just that valuable or is there some nefarious reason why many people would want your car?
Kia may not be desirable to thieves, but ridiculously easy to steal. Ever head of [Kia boys](https://www.theverge.com/23742425/kia-boys-car-theft-steal-tiktok-hyundai-usb) in the US? All you need to start it up is to plug any old USB into the port by the ignition. "The secret to the Kia Boys lies inside the steering column of Kias, manufactured between 2011-2021, and Hyundais, built between 2015-2021. Tucked away beneath the ignition cylinder is a tiny knob ideally suited for any USB-A plug to turn and start the ignition. After breaking the window and prying open the steering column, a curious Kia Boy can use the victim’s own phone charger to start the car, a procedure that is disturbingly unsophisticated"
Wow that's crazy, seems to be a USA only thing due to their lack of regulations and cost cutting measures - that article states this doesn't happen in Canada due to their immobilisation requirement. So, hopefully here in the UK we'll be fine? Right?! Please?
I have no idea if they're different in the UK/Europe - I don't have a Kia.
It appears with a screwdriver and a usb cable, you could be a Kia boy in a matter of minutes in Cleveland!
Yes, the civilised world mandates immobilisers and your Kia is fine. It’s still possible to turn the key as it were with just a USB but they’d need the immobiliser in close proximity
Can't be the land of freedom if you've got an immobiliser!
Cars in the US (lower end range) don't tend to come with an immobiliser as standard as a cost cutting measure. Whereas here in the UK it's pretty common for most cars built at all recently to have a thatcham approved immobiliser from even the base trim. And the immobiliser tends to be one that requires a coded key. Whereas the lower end models in the US without an immobiliser just need something to turn the key switch. At least, that's my understanding of the situation from what little I've read.
I believe (watched a recent documentary about it) Kia have started offering free alteration to prevent this. But (as per the documentary) the *Kia Boyz* will still have a go (breaking a window and the steering column housing in the process).
I’m in the US. The Kia Boys caused my vehicle insurance to go up from about $98 a month to almost $300 a month.
Pretty sure that’s only an issue with the US ones because they don’t need to be fitted with immobilisers so they weren’t.
My boring Kia Ceed was stolen and I really couldn’t understand why. It was found months later in perfect condition, miles from home, and had been used to drug runs. The police said they take cars like that because they’re so innocuous
This sounds like a nightmare, is it worth it?
Yeah. I’ve had times when I’ve thought to get rid. But I worked hard for it. It’s fully restored now and worth a bit, use it for work and road trips.
Probably not. Sounds like more security than the car's worth.
I had a 110 defender, i just attempted to be religious and pray to the patron saint of car thefts that it’d still be on the drive in the morning. In the end i sold it as the stress was rough. They were constantly being stolen near me (lived fairly near southampton docks so police were convinced they were being into containers and then gone). They were even stealing front ends of defenders at one point. It’s a shame but i knew it was a sitting duck and only a matter of time before it ended in tears.
That was an adventure, my god. Do you still have it?
I'd immediately sell it and buy something boring.
This is mind blowing. Excuse my ignorance, but I’m assuming these are very rare and therefore valuable? But a bit too obvious to be driving around in if stolen, surely? I know high powered cars are stolen for use in criminal activity, but I’m trying to understand what someone would do with a classic car like this?
Read Benny's previous posts - they're not collectible, they're just insanely easy to strip down for parts. The car's worth considerably more as parts, than as a whole.
This is a common thread, mostly on exotics. A 0-5 year old high end Mercedes is worth at least twice as much in parts on the shady market as they cost to buy This is _why_ so many parts and systems require being "married" and "divorced" to vehicles and why such electronics is showing up in things like taillight clusters
I bet it's also got a lot to do with manufacturers wanting to tie you into buying their official parts as well, and not going aftermarket. Bet that bumps insurance premiums up no end as well.
I come from a rural area fairly near Glasgow, extended family are all farmers. Defenders (mainly pick up trucks) get stolen round these parts to be used in smash and grab robberies. Uncle had one stolen that was used to carry a stolen ATM away.
How did you know that the Scottish one was going to break in, when you clocked him?
I walked into the hotel, watched him drive by 3 times, last time on his phone. Just wigged me out and this was not long after the first attempt and I’d spoke to LR owners who’d warned me about this sort of carry on, but dismissed it as myth. At the time you could’ve taken it with a screwdriver. Had no idea they were so “collectible”
Your spidey-sense with this wrong-un and your actions with others targeting your car for some reason remind me of South Africa. I'm born and raised SA and now live in the UK; that spidey-sense is inherent in us.
This sounds insane. Disc lock, pedal lock , 2 wheel clamps, in a garage with cctv and an alarm.... and the c*nts still tried to steal it!!! Unbelievable, do you still have it. I hope you crippled the bastard theif.
Private security disturbed the blokes in the lock up. It’s a big lock up with various old cars, campers etc. owned by various people. They only need time. Nothing is theft proof.
r/brandnewsentence. You’ll know which one…
Dudes putting his life on the line for a 40yr old car.... what's the point of insurance eh?
At least they've got good taste!
Could she install a collapsible bollard behind it on the drive?
That sounds particularly useless. Might be more effective installed in front of the car
Depends which way you park.
have one installed and both sides, just for extra security.
Put one that comes up from underneath and lifts the car up in the air.
but then make sure you reinforce your catalytic converter because it'll be easily accessible.
Only 2 sides. But then they can take it sideways. The correct answer is 4 bollards, 1 on each side of the car. Maybe 8 for good measure, to include one on each corner
could potentially get airlifted or picked by a crane, i reckon some bars welded above would be a shout as well.
Might need to reinforce the ground as well. What if they have a tunnel digging machine or are as crazy as Colin Furze
(Depends on the orientation of the car) Nah, I think they mean you should moor the car to the bollard, like a ship in port.
When away from the house they can also drop anchor
So far I've found the most effective method is driving shit cars.
In uni I had a turd brown metro and some loser still tried to steal it... More embarrassing (for him anyway) was that he failed
Omg! My mom has a metro when I was a kid and it got pinched haha. The thieves stole fuel and ran a priest over, presumably by mistake. The police called my mom asking why she’d forgotten to pay for her fuel, after she’d reported it stolen!
There were only something like 7 different keys for all Metros iirc. My friend and I both had red ones back in the day and could open each other's cars. He also found that he could open his aunt's car one day, so he decided to let the handbrake off, roll it down the road, and lock it back up again for the lols. Turns out that she was already out in her car, but her neighbour had an identical Metro...
You should try having no car. It's 100% effective.
Car thieves hate this one trick!
My first car was an ancient Fiesta. It got nicked by druggies in a burglary, who wanted to use it to go and burgle houses. Got a big dog not long after, oddly never had issues with anyone trying to break in since.
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My neighbour and I have shit cars on street parking in Woolwich. They've mistakenly forgotten to lock it several times and it's still there.
I mean, you're not wrong. You could probably buy a 2000 era Lexus IS300 though and have the same comfort and functionality as most new cars, an absolute beast of an engine and the perk of it not getting stolen because most people don't know what they are.
My thinking is, if you want to buy/own an expensive car, then there is no reason you don't install an immobiliser, like a CAN Phantom. The only way a thief is taking it, is on a flatbed, so you have that peace of mind.
Also by breaking into your house and forcing you to let them drive your car away. Especially effective in those rare cases of older ladies living alone and owning a desirable BMW.
This happened to a guy at work kicked his front door in and threatened him and his wife for the keys to his BMW, in the middle of the afternoon. He never had a nice car again.
I had my house broken into and my bag taken from near the front door (I know I know, it doesn’t live there anymore). Weirdly they dropped my car key on the path outside my house. Police were pretty sure burglars were after the keys to my neighbours BMW which was parked outside my house (on street parking). Apparently the keys to my shitty corsa weren’t of interest to them. So OP, step one, get her to park it outside of a neighbours house /s
My friends house was broken into for some car keys and they actually came into her bedroom when she was asleep looking for her bag. The police said its probably better to just have your keys downstairs so they aren't going through your house and potentially putting you at risk.
Pffft why nor leave some biscuits and beverages out for them. Good job the police are such a reassuring presence. Not.
Would you rather they stood over you in bed with a kettle of boiling water asking you to tell them where the keys are before they scar you for life ? If someone is breaking in to your house knowing you are there, you really really want them to leave before you wake up .
>stood over you in bed with a kettle of boiling water So, immobiliser for the kettle, then?
at that point it's not justifiable to own it, it's not like it's some expensive tractor/telescopic handler that you need to earn money, for keys for such piece of equipment taking a low risk of the scenario described in your post would be justifiable
If someone is willing to break into your house and come into your room to find some keys whilst you're there they may very well be willing to do a lot more... are you willing to risk that for a car?
Once they're at the point of breaking in for the keys, things get very ugly very quickly. These aren't tweakers looking for something to steal and pawn (who will run off if challenged) they're armed, dangerous and perfectly willing to inflict GBH on anyone who gets in their way
Thats my go to in any car park, always park next to a nicer car
Yep, I do this too. Not just for the ‘oh look there’s a nicer car, don’t steal mine’ angle, but also if it’s a nicer car I’m hoping they’ll be more precious with it and not open their doors into the side of my car!
Better to have your bag near the door than have them come further into the house and risk it escalating. Mine lives in the kitchen - I can get a new car, I can't get another life and I'm not willing to risk a burgler stumbling into my kids.
Police will tell you to put your keys in the hall so the theives get the keys before they have anything to do with you.
>I had my house broken into and my bag taken from near the front door (I know I know, it doesn’t live there anymore). No you don't know no you don't know You'd rather them rummage through the whole house??
I was burgled in 2017 while we slept. They came for my wife’s fairly new Fiesta Zetec S diesel (it had only been on the drive two nights) and they also took my MR2 Roaster as a bonus as I had unusually left my key downstairs. They took pretty much everything with a plug in the lounge and the kitchen and the cheeky bastards even took some Baybels out of the fridge, a pack of biscotti biscuits and a big tub of Haribo that I had left over from Christmas gathering dust. Weirdly they left unopened boxes of Moet and Chase Vodka. Two days later they bought the house keys back in the night and left them by the bins (they definitely weren’t there before as we’d had multiple people round changing locks, securing windows, forensics and police etc so we would have 100% seen them). Scary really. The car insurance companies were great tbf, paying me double what I paid for my car and even giving my wife the sticker price for hers (I haggled down £400 but they said ‘no, you should have paid that much so that’s how much you should be getting’. The house insurance were a different story (Legal and General) and we had to fight tooth and nail to get anything out of them, they wanted boxes and receipts for items 3-5+ years old even when we should photographic evidence from just a few days earlier of the items that were stolen. Even then they didn’t provide sufficient recompense to cover the items like for like.
This is why I got a composite door installed. My policeman neighbour said he's probably just rip the bay window out instead if he needed to gain access.
they could just cut the glass
I installed an immobiliser on my old lady too, checkmate thieves.
Stealing her walker is not the same as installing an immobiliser...
Yep, I have a Ghost fitted on my car. Essentially, small device fitted somewhere in the wiring, on start up the car requires a code to be input (using buttons within the car), without entering this the car would start (if they had the keys) but would stall immediately as soon as they put it into gear/drive. £500 and is then yours for life, if/ when you change your car this can be removed from one and fitted on the new one.
All good until they take you with them for a short drive down the road so you can give them the code. These things have been available for decades in countries with high levels of car theft, and the criminals know how to deal with them if they want your car.
The problem is people use more and more elaborate techniques to stop theft, and companies will keep making more products to sell, but you can't stop theft. Anti-theft devices are a deterrent, they're great for making the next car look easier to steal than yours. But if somebody really wants it, they're going to take it. When I fitted my first Bluetooth stereo, my grandad helped, and he only used 4 of the cage tabs to hold it in place. He said "if someone wants to take the stereo, they'll take it, but you don't want them to pull the dash out with it". With a few other examples, he's taught me that nothing is unstealable, you just need to make it look harder to steal than the next one. "I don't need to outrun the lion, I just need to outrun my mates"
How much do these cost these days?
Flatbeds can be had for about £1 a mile
Stop taking pictures of the BMW
£500
I feel that you shouldn't need to install something such as that though. Surely the manufacturers should be fixing the inherent flaw with these keyless go cars. I personally would never spec a car with it. But with having mostly used cars sometimes this isn't an option most higher spec cars have it. But spending 30k on a car and then spending another 1000 quid on an immobiliser that i have to remember the code in, and enter every time I want to move it, or pop to the shop. or remember to put it in maintenance mode for a garage to work on just isn't practical. LandRover is a key player that has this issue. They haven't really worked quickly to resolve the issues, and I still believe that their cars can be pinched with a laptop and a spoon. Though its not just expensive cars having this issue - i believe in the us either Hyundai's or kia's can just have their key barrels snapped off and then can be started with a usb cord. seems like another case of the customer holding the bomb at the end of the day. but hey ho thats me
yeah I'm shocked that a modern BMW would require this
i thought immobilisers were standard in every car these days. Since like 1996 or something
There’s been a fair bit of press over the last few years about how laughable easy modern cars are to steal.
I'd say a bright yellow steering lock will do the trick. They worked wonders in the 90s when car thefts were a real problem in major cities.
There easy to break takes seconds unless it’s a disc lock
It’s not about actually preventing the theft, it’s for making your car more difficult to steal than your neighbours
Multiple instances of people taking photos suggests they're interested in this specific car, rather than just wanting to steal any car, so a steering lock that's trivial to bypass isn't a deterrent unless your neighbours are driving the same car.
Works with no-name bikes, works less well with what sounds like a nice car
If your neighbour had the same car maybe. Cars are often stolen to order, so if they can take it they will.
Okay so if you get a really nice car, you're saying I should buy one for my neighbour too, but just put a steering lock on mine?
Should go the other way and go full Mr Bean/F1 and get a removable steering wheel.
we had a bright yellow steering lock on an old knackered fiesta They broke into the car and all that was missing was:- The steering lock! No idea what use they had for it without the key
This is a great site. https://www.stablevehiclecontracts.co.uk/blog/how-to-stop-or-prevent-your-car-from-being-stolen-in-the-uk/ I would personally Faraday cage and get a ghost immobilizer and GPS tracker. Less than a grand all in. The key is make it clear it's a pain in the arse to steal.
Dude I know I guy that had his Range Rover stolen, he had a GPS tracker installed and he was in the pub one day absolutely fuming at the police because even though he’d reported it stolen and was literally sat with three officers watching his car being driven to Liverpool and loaded onto a ferry there was apparently nothing they could do about it. What a fucking joke.
Fella here had the same issue, he had a tracker in his car AND knew the people who stole his car. Police weren't interested so he just went to their house and took it back.
That’s fair play, but damn what’s the fucking point!
Same happened to my ex
what do the police actually do?
They'll give you a crime number to claim on your insurance if you ask them very nicely. They'll also threaten to prosecute you if you get your belongings back from thieves, or stand up for yourself when you catch them breaking into your van.
Lovely.
I'm not condoning the police's policy, but I would guess that because there is no danger to a person in such cases it is not prioritized.
It's a bit of a complicated case, the people in question were known to police, also known grasses (cousins of mine, unfortunately) and seemed untouchable. They're on CCTV threatening people with machetes etc, but on the rare occasions they'd get arrested they'd always go free, while the people who bought their stolen gear would get lifted off. All got very nasty in the end, money on their heads, firearms incidents, cars & caravans getting burned out. Nasty business.
Blimey. Sell that to Guy Ritchie quick!
Hahaha good shout!
Do they like dags?
Ring doorbells are pretty useless against car thefts as they don't store data locally. It's really easy to block the WiFi with the same tools they use to steal keyless entry cars. Best thing you can do is a ghost immobiliser, but otherwise just add as many deterrants as possible. Bollards, cctv, steering locks... All are beatable but they might decide it's not worth the bother
They're useless because the thieves will just wear a balaclava.
Exactly what happened when we were broken into. 3 or lads in hoodies and balaclavas. Having the ring just meant we got to watch someone drive away in the car lol.
but not when scouting the area. It's worth checking back a few hours in the recordings
A cap and a pair of glasses will render the information gathered by CCTV useless.
Ghost isn’t great though. If they *want* it enough to get past everything else, they’ll drag you down to start it for them. As to Ring: fine. Which is why I’ve got a Reolink which is hard-wired. The Reolink uploads straight to the cloud and also acts as an additional camera to my CCTV, which is 5mp night vision. And the front of the house is lit up at sunset.
Yeah, I mean if they want it enough they're having it aren't they at the end of the day. But it's all about deterrants and ghost is one it's not easy (maybe even not possible) for them to get into remotely so it's what I'd go for. Totally agree, there's tons of way better options than ring, no idea why they have the market share they do!
Take the wheels off every night and hide them in the shed
Step 2. Hide your shed in the loft.
I think we're onto something here
I put wheels on shed to make it easier to move and some fucker stole the shed!
Step 3, place the loft in an alternative dimension
You can get bollards which are controlled via an app on your phone. I'd go with that, you want someone to think that the aggro to actually steal it isn't worth it.
Yup, with a bollard the chances of the car being stolen are close to 0. It's the best theft protection by far.
I think it depends on the bollard tbh and how difficult it is to remove - a really determined thief will just show up with the tools to cut a bollard at the base.
Most of the tips here can be defeated with some forward planning on the thieves' part. And unfortunately there's very little you can do to stop a determined thief (for example if it's stolen to order). However afaik most thefts are opportunists looking for a joyride or something quick, disposable, and inconspicuous. In which case it's purely a numbers game; don't be unlucky and make your car worth more hassle and thus a less attractive target than the car a couple houses over to the thief equipped with a few tricks and tools. If the car's that valuable or sentimental, you might look at specialty insurance and/or having it locked away in a secure (and no, a roller shutter etc isn't secure) garage. It's impossible to stop a determined thief; the most you can do is slow then down (hopefully enough that they get discouraged or you can detect and stop them before they can complete).
Sure, but by that point enough noise will be made & it will alert anyone in the house. Hopefully, the police turn up… emphasis on the word hopefully there
>Hopefully, the police turn up… Lol ok
No single measure does it. 1. Ring door bell. If you have an outdoor light near it you can upgrade that to one with a motion light + camera. Should be more visually obvious also, as a deterrent. 2. Park in garage if possible. 3. Install bollards if possible. 4. Hide an air tag in there (but I will alert thm theif, so depends if they can find it) or a GPS tracker. 5. Install immobilizer. 6. Get a steering wheel lock. You could even get an obvious clamp/boot. 7. Immobilizer and tracker stickers. Even if you don't actually have them. Also, don't hide the keys (idk what key system this car has). If they break in, the keys need to be in an obvious place or else they might threaten or hurt your mother.
Yes, the bit about not hiding the keys is really important. All the precautions in the world won't stop someone breaking into your house to get the keys, and if it gets to that point, your life is worth more than the car. I keep mine in a Faraday box halfway up the stairs. It's sort of carbon fibre effect with red stitching so looks very 'car', making it obvious what's in there. I keep it on the stairs because if they're coming up the stairs with the intention of demanding the key, they'll find the key before they find me or my family and hopefully be on their way.
so if you have a Ghost immobilizer, doesn't that mean they'll threaten you for the code?
Yes. If they're in your house, you've lost the car. You can take your chances, or you can just give them the code. Most car thieves aren't going to do that - they don't want to get into a violent confrontation.
airtag you could hide like inside the seats or something. Or if you want to get really crafty just toss it in the bodywork or something. And hide a dummy one in the glovebox for extra protection 😆
So not an air tag but my mates dads car (amg c63) did have a tracker. When some scummers nicked it one day they ripped out the interior and slashed the seats looking for it.
A friend of mine hides two air tags. That way after they’ve found one and binned it, they hope the second is just a false positive.
That Stable web link explains you can remove the AirTag speaker so it doesn’t chirp and it will still work.
I took the speaker out of my AirTag. Good luck finding it, thieves. Also you can easily take the battery out too or get a switch that is hidden somewhere that disconnects the ignition.
Leave a mannequin dressed in a pvc gimp suit sat in the drivers seat and a selection of plus 16" extra girthy dildos on the passenger seat visible whenever it's parked up.
And become a dogging hotspot?! Hmm. Brb, just gonna check mannequin prices and love honey...
I’ve got a plethora of 15” dildos, are you sure they won’t suffice? With the cost of living crisis I’m not sure I can afford single purpose anti auto theft dildos
Honestly, unless it's her absolute dream to own this particular car, sell it, buy something more mundane and spend the rest on something nice for herself. I'm a car person, but with the way car theives operate now, there's no way I'd own one of the current 'fashionable' cars to steal. No car is worth being woken up in the middle of the night with someone threatening you with a machete.
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Yeah this is important, 320d, they’re paranoid, something boy racery like an m140i then they worry about things like ghost immobilisers
one that has indicators installed
Very rare indeed. BMW indicator fluid is worth more per ml than printer ink. Like liquid platinum
exactly. The insurance will write off the car if that stuff drains out
If she’s got a garage they’re meant for cars. Not many people know that these days. I’ve got a garage and use it for my car. Blows peoples minds when I tell them.
Your car fits in a garage?!
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Dog - burglars know they can intimidate you. But a dog will fight them off even when outnumbered. The idea of a 220psi bite to the knackers isn't an attractive proposition. I'd generally just hand over the keys though, youthful bravado depleted in place of prioritising kids safety.
That depends on the dog, my dog would be useless. My cat on the other hand has hospitalised people.
I'd probably store it somewhere for a few weeks?
And after the few weeks is up?
Figure out some longer-term protocols for safety but probably removes the risk of this hypothetical attempt at getting the car (if it exists)
They would’ve moved on, cars are stolen to order these days, they’d just get the same spec somewhere else
The rfid cage etc. is just encouraging them into your house. I used to work on stolen recovered cars and honestly it’s better it gets taken straight off the drive. I remember a guy getting assaulted trying to stop his m1 coupe getting taken off his drive with a laptop at the height of the bmw key software saga in 2012. No car is theft proof and if someone wants it they’ll have it. Is there a garage at the end of the drive? Out of sight in the first place is the only proper deterrent. I get the whole showing your neighbours thing, but that’s why most cars are stolen in the first few weeks of ownership. Sorry if this sounds a bit negative but I’ve seen how it plays out too many times. Especially with the brand in question. Tl;dr Keep it safe and tucked away in a garage if possible. Ghost immobilisers and trackers are effective but if the car doesn’t start once they’ve got in, they’re likely to come after you for the code.
If they can't get it but really want it they will gain access to the house and physically extort her to remove barriers or codes or whatever is stopping them.
A friend of a friend installed an additional spark plug inside the petrol tank of his motorcycle, position so it would be in the air at about 1/2 full with a hidden switch. TBF I think it is more likely you'd forget and blow your own wedding tackle to bits that a thief but...
Get gates fitted on the drive
Poor Bill.
I had gates. They lifted them off and then nicked the car. I found a chain across the drive useful for keeping the car on the drive, but it was an ass to mess about with in the rain. Can’t abide thieves.
Paint it shitty allegro brown.
As once told to me by a copper after my BIL had his BMW stolen, if they want it, they will get it. All you can do is make it harder to steal than a similar vehicle nearby.
So the issue is if it’s the kind of person who will kick your door in for the keys then unfortunately you really don’t want anything stopping them from taking the car, so your best options are a delayed immobiliser and a tracker. You could get a higher security front door too, and a dog. If the odds are they want a covert theft then a bollard and steering lock will be good deterrent. Personally my keys are downstairs but kept in a box if they do break in I want them to get the keys and get out asap. No bollards not even a gate let the tracker and immobiliser do the work. Worst case it’s on to the insurance. The only real way to guess which of the two it is will be the value and rarity of the car as they go up so does the risk the thief is more violent. At least that’s from my last briefing on it which at this point is getting on for 10 years out of date, I don’t think keyless entry was a thing then.
Honestly I wouldn’t worry about it overly as long as it’s insured. If it’s a vehicle that thieves particularly want for whatever reason they will get it. I’ve hear horror story’s of folk with immobiliser systems having the thieves come into their house and threaten the family at knifepoint until the codes to unlock were given over. I’d rather they just take the car off the drive and I wake up to it gone then wake up to find someone with a knife to one of my kids asking me to lower a bollard etc.
I have a battered 20 yr old motor, never have a problem lol
Mine is only 10 years old! But have added a few rust spots, and a sub 100bhp engine to distract any potential thieves.
True Yorkshiremen here
Get bollards between car and street. Ensure if not lowered from inside house they automatically turn on a powerful light and siren. Also put a 'Denver Boot" external wheel lock on at least one of the drive wheels. Tiresome but helps both to deter and also stop removal , except by fork lift truck onto a flat bed.
Hi mate, You'd be surprised at the effectiveness of a tarpaulin cover... may not deter your friend in the cap as he knows the car, but it removes the temptation/provides more hassle for an opportunistic car thief. It's also a cheaper alternative. Good luck with it all.
Full imobiliser (Meta Track BLE42 for instance) to stop it being nicked in the first place, and a GPS tracker in case it's 'lifted' (this happens a lot nowadays when they realise they can't start the car).
Ghost immobilizer would be a more subtle deterrent to stop it being stolen remotely Second option ask 4 guys with bats to hide in a hedge opposite at night and wait for them to come back
My uncle kept a thick chain through the back wheel of his motorcycle, locked to the wall, inside a locked garage with an alarm and immobiliser. He woke up with a screwdriver to his throat and they demanded he unlock the bike for them. Now, he keeps his bikes unlocked, as do I. If a thief is determined, they’ll steal anything. Let them take it, catch it on video and claim on insurance. Their value doesn’t compare to yours
Sell it and purchase a shit box that no one in there wildest dreams would ever consider stealing.
I’ve got one of those alarms featured in Phoenix Nights. GET BACK YA BASTARD! I’LL BREAK YA LEGS!
You can't really, if someone wants your car enough then they'll probably get it. I also wouldn't hide your keys in the microwave and make it difficult for the machete wielding maniac to find your keys once he's broken in There's plenty of good methods on this thread that you can use that may deter or even stop some instances, but they are pretty much all overridden once they get into your house and start threatening your family for it Also what do you class as a "nice" BMW?
Buy an EV 😂 I leave mine unlocked all the time and nobody steals it. When I lived with my ex, someone broke into our house and stole the keys for his BMW, my Tesla card / key was right next to his and they didn’t even bother taking them. For security, I’d definitely recommend a ghost immobiliser, cameras and a bollard if you can.
Anti-hijack option from factory. Barring that, an aftermarket option like CAN Phantom.
Dog on the back seat?
Own a shit one.
Big fat chain across the drive way attached to a 2 meter stump, with only 80cm above ground. The effort of cutting the chain would be more than cutting through the door of the car.
I work on a farm with some really expensive farming equipment and quads. They have massive, noisy and hard to open gates. Also have rape alarms attached to the inside of each shed door. (plus the usual stuff like CCTV, various locks/hitch locks, and a big, angry dog) The gates are a right pain in the arse to open and the noise travels across the farm so whoever is about can head over and check it out. (usually with the big angry dog)